Automatic poker



T. M. HAUGH, LE ROY c. SCH!LL!NG, AND J. w. FINCH.

' AUTOMATIC POKER.

APPUCATIQN HLED 1AN.14, 1918.

1,422,442,. Patented J'ul n, 1922.

4- SHEETSSHEET l- T. M. HAUGH, LE ROY C. SCHILLING, AND 1. w. FINCH. AUTOMATIC POKER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-14,1918. lfl fiffl2. v Patented July 11, 1922.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

T. M. HAUGH, LE ROY C. SCHlLLlNG, AND J. W FiNCH.

AUTOMATIC. POKER.

APBLICATION FILED JAN.14, 1918.

1,422,442, Patented July 11, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

- & Jn EUYU/"E 23 j 06%,; w. aimuam T. M. HAUGH, LE ROY C. SCHILLING, AND J. W. FINCH. AUTOMATIC POKER. I ,APFLlCATl ON FILED IAN-14,1918. 1,422,442 Patented July 11, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J'lI/EWYUPE 92m THOMAS MICHAEL HAUGI-I, LE ROY CRIS SOI-IILLING, AND JOHN WESLEY FINCI-I, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT; ASSIGNORS TO THE EASTERN IVLALLEABLE IRON COIVIPANY, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

AUTOMATIC POKER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 11, 1922.

Application filed January 14, 1918. SerialNo. 211,855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS MICHAEL HAUGH, LE ROY CnIs SomLLINe, and JOHN WEsLnY FINoH, citizens of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county automatic pokers, and the object of our improvement is to produce a poker for use in melting furnaces in foundries and that is adapted to be maintained continuously in operation and is mechanically operated.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved automatic poker and a part of a melting furnace in which, the poker proper is operated.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same as viewed from the opposite side from that shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the operatin mechanism.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale of certain parts shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a similar view of the transverse feeding mechanism shown in Fig. 4-.

Figure 7 (Sheet 3') is a sectional view on the line 7-7 ofFigure 6.

Figure 8 is an end face view of the crossconnecting member of the poker.

Figure 9 is a plan view of thesame.

Figure 10 is a sectional view on the line 1010of Figure 8. r

Our improved automatic poker comprises a frame 10 of skeleton form for being supported from the ceiling 11 of a foundry, being positioned immediately in frontof the furnace 12, and mechanism operatively housed in the said frame 10'for operating a poker 13. The'poker 13 is positioned gen erally horizontally and extends through the mouth or fuelsupply opening 14, resting on the sill 15, so that the end portion 16 is positioned within the interior portion 17 of the furnace 12, so as to be operative to contact with the fuel and operate upon the same generally after the manner of a hand oper ated poker by reason of such movements as are imparted to the poker 13 after the mannor to be described.

Such movements comprise a longitudinal movement of the poker 13 so that the end portion 16 is moved back and forth over the fire and also a shifting of the poker structure transversely by a body movement, such transverse movement being effected intermittently by a relatively small shifting for each longitudinal stroke, so that the poker arms 18 travel from one side to the other along the sill 15, and the end portion 16 operates on diii'erent lateral portions of the fire.

The poker 13 is water cooled, there being two arms 18 made of iron pipe, the rear ends being connected to suitable lengths of hose 19, one serving as the inlet and the other as the outlet, the'forward ends being connected by the end portion 16 that is in the form of a head and has an interior channel 20 for cross-connecting the pipes 18.

The pipes 18 are in spaced relation and parallel, the rear end portions being rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the lower 7 end of a vertical rod 21 of rigid construction the upper end of which is carried by the operating mechanism.

As shown, the rod ,21 has at the lower end a forwardly extending branch 22 formed by a right angle bend, which branch is rigidly secured in the poker frame or bracket member 23 by the transverse bolt 24, and nut 25 and a set of clamping plates 26. The bracket member 23 comprises on the upper side a pair of side plates 26, one on each side of the branch 22, and-securedby the middle portion to the said branch'by the bolt 24, and the end portions of the combined side plates and branch are positioned in' channels 28 in end members 29. At each endof both of the side plates 26 is a screw 30 that secures the same to the side wall of the channel 28. The end members 29 extend laterally across the lower portion of the channel 28 and extend outwardly on each side an appreciable distance to provide the desired-spacing for the pipes 18 and have at the ends sleeves 31 for adj ustably receiving the pipes 18, these being held in adjusted position by means of setscrews 82.

The rod 21 serves as the driving rod for driving the poker, the body portion thereof being maintained in a substantially vertical position as it is moved about, the poker being connected to the lower end in the manner described and the upper end being connected to the driving mechanism in any suitable manner. Thus the said upper end portion is engaged with two clamps in spaced relation, comprising a lower clamp 33 and an upper clamp 34, which clamps, as shown, are connected together as a unit by a vertical connecting bar 35, and the said unit is clamped by its two ends to two similar bars 36, also in spaced relation.

Thus-thebars 36 serve to support the driving'rod 21, and they also constitute the two slide members of a transversely sliding frame 37, being slidably engaged with suitable bearings 38. The frame 37 asa whole comprises the bars 36 as the upper and lower 7 members, 'and these are cross-connected in any suitable manner, as by the connecting bar 35, already mentioned, and by additional cross-connecting means, such as the bar 39, and supported by the frame 37 is a rack40, positioned horizontally, with the teeth on theupperside. -Thus the frame 37 is adapted to move back and forth, supported by the bearings 38, and in a direction at substantially right' angles to the longitudinal direction'al' movement of the poker.

The bearings 38 are supported by the frame-worlr 41 of a carriage that serves as the means for effecting the longitudinal movement of the poker, being provided with a set of wheels 42 that run on two longitudinally disposed tracks 43. The tracks 43 are supported by the main frame 10.

The imeans for effecting the transverse movement of the sliding frame 37 comprise a relatively large gear wheel 44 for coopera crank arm 47 incorporated with the ratchet ating with the rack 40 and means for intermittently" moving the said gear wheel 44 comprising a ratchet wheel 45, operated by a pawl 46, and connecting means comprising wheel-451an'd a' connecting rod 48 connecting the crank arm 47 with a'pin 49 that serves as a crank pin for moving the gear wheel 44 and" is su ported thereon "in any proper manner. ee Fig. 6.

A; holding "pawl 50 prevents return or backward movement of the ratchet wheel 45. The operating pawl 46 is carried by a swinging arm 51,, which arm 51 is operatively connected by means of link mechanism 52, which may be of any suitable form, to a tripping lever 53, as shown in Fig. 5. The lever 53 is supported from the carriage frame 41 by a pin 54, has one end, shown at theleft in the said Fig. 5, connected to the link mechanism 52, and the other end is provided with a nose 55 for engaging with a fixedstop 56, supported on one of the tracks 43. The stop 56 is positioned so that the nose 55 engages therewith near the end of the rearward movement of the carriage 41, the link mechanism 52 and the lever 53, with its nose 55, are so constructed and arranged ment and a push for the other half, accordin to the position of the crank arm 47.

T311011 to and fro movement of the connecting rod 48 is utilized to effect a corresponding movement of the large gear wheel 44 on its axis 57 by making the radius for the connecting pin 49 on the said large gear wheel 44 greater than the radius of the crank arm 47, which latter rotates around the center 58 of the ratchet wheel 45, and, as a further detail, positioning the connecting pin, 49 on one side only of the line of move ment of the connecting rod 48. As shown, the pin 49 is on the upper side of such line of movement, and the teeth 'at'the bottom portion of the gear wheel 44 are engaged with the rack 40 so as to move the same back and forth as the gear wheel 44 is rotated,

first in one direction and then in the other.

Thus the sliding frame 37 and the poker 13 carried thereby are moved intermittently in a transverse direction, such movement as 13 carried t-hereby in the following manner:

A rack 59 is mounted on the truck 41,

positioned longitudinally thereof, and havin teeth on the upper side. i

f he rails 43 are located'at thelower part of the frame 10 and above the truck 41 is a platform 60 that supports the mechanism forcooperating with the rack 59 for operating the truck 41. The said mechanism comprises a segmental gear 61 of relatively large size that cooperates with the rack 59 and is supported by the shaft 62, and which is pro-' vided with a radial driving arm 63 that is connected to one end of the connecting rodl 64. The other end of'the connecting rod 64 is connected to the crank pin 65 that is positioned on one face of the gear wheel 66, mounted on the shaft 67. The gear wheel 66 through the medium of intermediate gearing, designated by the character 68, is oper-l ated by an electric motor '69. The parts are so constructed and arranged that as the crank pin 65 is rotated, by rotating the gear 7 wheel 66 on which it is mounted, the seglength of the driving arm 63 of the segmentel gear 61 is appreciably greater than the radial distance of the crank pin 65 from the axis of its shaft 67 and the connecting rod 64 and the driving arm 63 are of suitable length and so positioned that they always operate on' the upper side of the axis or shaft 62 for the segmental gear 61. Thus as the crank pin 65 is rotated continuously in one direction by the motor a reciprocating movement of the truck along the rails is effected, which in direction and extent is such as is required to give the desired longitudinal movement for the poker. I

As described, means are provided for effecting a. continuous movement of the poker,

such movement being interrupted only at the ends of the strokes for the change in di rection, and the-supporting means for the poker carried by the truck are shifted bodily a transversely of the line of'mo-vement of the truck by a predeterminedamount for each complete forward and return movement of the truck. Thus the rear end of the poker is shifted, and the front end, that is in the fire, and the portion on the sill are shifted to -correspond by reason of the rigid connection of thepokerwith the supporting means, including the double arm drive for the poker, such shifting being facilitated by the detail of dragging the poker back and forth over the sill during the longitudinal movemerit of the poker.

Such shifting o-rtransverse movement is continuedlin one direction to correspond to the extent permitted by the width of the sill and is then reversed.

The poker head is maintained continuously in the fire, the water circulation provided for the same permitting this to be done without damage from the heat of the fire.

The poker to which this invention applies, as mentioned, is of the form that is used in melting furnaces in foundries, and is of the specific form having an extended arm device or shank portion that is provided with an operating poker head at one end, and is adapted to be projected through the fuel feed opening in the side wall of the furnace so that the said head is positioned in the interior of the furnace and exposed to the fire. The device differs from the hand operated device that it replaces by having the arm device or shank portion composed of two members in parallelism instead of simply a single member.

Both forms have in use a generally limited longitudinal reciprocating movement.

Accordin ly, the term poker used here: with has re erence to a device of the specific character mentioned. 7

In use the head structure rides on the fuel that is being operated upon, and the said head structure, through the medium of the handle structure in the form of the arm device or shank portion mentioned, is moved back and forth generally in the longitudi nal direction relatively to the handle structure. 1 Generally some part of the shank portion or handle structure intermediate the head structure and the outer end will rest on and slide on the sill of the openingin the side wall of the furnace.

The efficiency of the poker is enhanced by providing a movement thereof such as has been described, comprising in combination a longitudinal movement and lateral move ment.

The longitudinal movement involves a reciprocating movement of the shank portion on the sill and the lateral movement involves a shifting of the position of the shank portion on the sill laterally, back and forth, so that the shank portion slides over different parts of the sill, and the poker structure is shifted bodily from side to side.

We believe that the use of mechanism for automatically operating a poker such as described to be new.

The use of water circulation permits of maintaining the head structure constantly and continuously within the interior of the furnace.

By providing the handle structure in the form of two parallel members, as shown, and cross-connected by the head structure, means are provided for effecting the water circulation and also a poker structure is provided that is superior to the poker that it replaces in operating qualities.

Thus, the double arm form of handle structure provides superior means for guiding the head structure in a positive and effective manner, both in operations involving pulling the head structure over the fuel and 1n those involving pushing or thrust.

As mentioned, the rear or outer end of the poker is rigidly connected to the sup porting means, wherefore there is a tendency under conditions of use to positively position and guide the poker structure in a definite direction relatively to the said supporting means which serves to effect the bodily shifting of the poker structure from side to side as the supporting means are shifted.

We claim as our invention 1.- In combination in a poker structure, a rail supported truck having a limited to and fro movement, a frame operatively supported by the said truck for limited to and fro movement in the transverse direction,

a poker structure connected to the said frame and tripping mechanism operative to periodically effect a movement of the said frame and poker responsive to such to and fromovement of the truck.

2. In combination in a poker structure, apoker operatively supported, a motor for operating the said poker, and automatically controlled mcchanlsm interconnecting the said motor and poker for effecting a longitudinal movement of the said poker andalso effecting a transverse shifting of the said 7 poker.

- 3. In poker operating mechanism, a truck for supporting a poker mounted on a set of rails and provided with a rack, rotatively operating. gearing provided with a crank pin, a gear member cooperating with the said rack, a connecting rod connecting the said; crank pin and gear member, and the said gearing, connecting rod, and gear member being'so constructed and arranged that rotative movement of the said crank pin will effect a reciprocating movement of the said truck.

4. I'npoker operating mechaninsm, a truck having are'ciprocating movement along a set of rails; a poker supported by the said truck through the medium of a sliding frame, the saidsliding frame being sup ported in slide bearings and having a rack, a gear member cooperating with the said rack and supported by the said truck, a ratchet wheel also supported by the said truck, a connecting rod connecting the said ratchet wheel and gear member, means for intermittently imparting rotative movement to the said ratchet Wheel responsive to such reciprocating movement of the truck-roomprising a pawl for engaging with the said ratchet wheel, and the said ratchet wheel, connecting rod, and gear member being constructed and arranged that rotative move ment of the said ratchet wheel in one direction will effect alternatively movements of the said poker in opposite directions.v

5. In combination, a furnace having a fuel feed opening in the side wall, a poker structure having an arm portion and'a head portion at one end of the said arm portion, the said poker structure being pro-.

jected' through the said opening so that the 7 said head portion is positioned within the interior of the said furnace,'motor driven means for moving the said poker structure back and forth longitudinally and also to shift the position thereof bodily laterally while the said head portion is being maintained so. positioned within the interior of the furnace,"and the said arm portion and head portion being provided with passages for water circulation so as to'permit of con-' tinuous operation under conditions of combustion within the said furnace.

the said poker Structure having passages for water circulation! THOMAS MICHAEL HAUGH. LE ROY CRIS SCHILLING. 7 JOHN WESLEY FINGH. V 

